Senator Grace Poe: “The burden of distinguishing counterfeit bills emanating from banks from genuine ones should not be placed on depositors.”
GRACE POE — The senator said that depositors shouldn’t shoulder the responsibility of recognizing fake bills from ATMs (automated teller machines).
This, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) urged the public to regularly inspect banknotes as a preventive measure against counterfeiting.
In a statement on Thursday, the senator said that reminders by the central bank to be alert of fake banknotes from ATMs were “disquieting” and raised the question on how the bogus money can find its way into the banks’ automated teller machines.
“The burden of distinguishing counterfeit bills emanating from banks from genuine ones should not be placed on depositors,” Poe said. “As keepers of the people’s money, banks must ensure state-of-the-art defenses against security breaches.“
According to the senator, ATMs dispensing fake banknotes have no place in the banking system.
Earlier this week, the central bank reminded Filipinos to regularly check their bills for authenticity through the “feel, look, tilt” method as a precautionary measure against counterfeiting.
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Under the Revised Penal Code (Republic Act No. 10951), apprehended currency or banknote counterfeiters will pay a fine of not more than PHP 2 million and will be imprisoned for at least 12 years and one day.
Last year, the central bank strengthened the security features of the 1,000-piso and 500-piso banknotes by adding a rolling bar effect on the value panels and color-shifting in the Optically Variable Ink in order to make the higher denominations more difficult to counterfeit.
Also, the enhanced money series featured indigenous Filipino weaves on the windowed security thread of the 100-piso, 200-piso, 500-piso, and 1,000-piso banknotes.
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